More notes on RPC...

In last week’s Telegraph, Tom Rees noted recent speculation that RPC (RPC) could become a target for private equity firms given its shares have been on a downward trajectory since the final quarter of 2017. That the plastic packager should end up in the crosshairs isn’t all that surprising, though ironic given that its perceived weakness in some quarters is down to an acquisition spree – 10 deals in a little over 12 months – which critics of the group, specifically broker Northern Trust Capital Markets, said had masked disappointing capital returns and cash flows. Or as Paul Moran, head of research, describes it: “stripping out losses that are embedded in acquisitions in the [profit and loss account (P&L)] post consolidation mostly through provisions (cash losses, not P&L) and claiming this as growth”.